Road resurfacing apparatus



Sept. 13, 1932.

R. E. PALMER ROAD RESURFACING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 21. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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Sept. 13, 1932. R. E. PALMER ROAD RESURFACING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 21. 1927 INVENTOR. 2332 4277 gig;

Patented Sept. 13, 1932 BAY ELLIS PALMER, F BIL-MIRA, NEW YORK ROAD RESURFACING APrAnA'rUs Application filed September 21, 1927. Serial No. 220,984.

This invention relates to the art of paving, and has more particular reference to an improved apparatus for resurfacing water bound bituminous and concrete roads.

When paved roads or highways become waterbound or develop rough surfaces by reason of the presence of humps and hollows, or ruts, it is the common practice to resurface the same by applying a smooth layer of surfacing material thereon. This surfacing material, such as dry stone, and abinder of .hot,

asphalt or tar, is dumped and spread in a smooth layer upon the surface ofthe road The invention contemplates the provision of a drag adapted to be drawn over the surface of the roadway to be resurfaced and em bodying means for eiiiciently spreading the resurfacing material over the surface of the roadway in a smooth layer.

The invention further contemplates the" provision of simple and efficient means for sides of the drag and in front of the spreads ing blade of the latter, in a transverse line or in a pile extending transversely of the drag from one side to the other of the latter for being most efficiently spread on the surface of the road when the drag is drawn ahead.

A further object is to provide means Where-- by the apparatus may be drawn in either di rection for avoiding the necessity of reversing the same end for end, the drag being of suiiicient width to apply the surfacing material to the surface of the road for substantially one-half of the width of the latter at a time.

A still further object is to provide a resurfacing apparatus of the above kind which is dumping the surfacing material between the extremely simple and durable in construction as well as'eflicient and reliable in use.

Other objects will appear as the, nature of the invention is better understood, and the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a road resurfacing apparatus con-V structed in accordance with the present invention, V V

Figure 2 is aside elevational view thereof, partly broken away, l p

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken on line III-J11 of Figure 2,

Figure i is a Vertical section taken upon line IVIV of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken upon line V-V of Figure 1, and drawn on a slightly enlarged scale, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse section, 5

artly broken away, and taken on line VI I of Figure 1.

Referring more in detail to thedrawings, the present invention includesa drag adapted to be drawn over the surface of the road for spreading the surfacing material in a smooth layer over said surface, and this dragembodies a pair of spaced parallel siderails or runners 5 rigidly connected at their ends by I transversebars 6 and pairs of crossed obliquely disposed braces 7 arranged inwardly of the bars 6. In this way, a simple but rigid and durable construction is had.

The runners 5 are preferably in the form of I-beams which have their ends upturned as at 8 toinsure free passage of the same over obstructions or irregularities of the road surface, the ends of the bars 6 and braces '7 being boltedor otherwise secured upon the upper flanges of the runners as shown clearly in Figures 1 and 2 at 9. This drag frame is preferably constructed of a width substantially equal to one-half the width of the r0adway, so that the drag is adapted, in use, to be drawn in one direction at one side of the roadway :33

and then in the opposite direction at the other side thereof to complete the resurfacing operation for the whole width of the roadway. In order to adapt the device to be drawn in either direction without necessitating reversing the same end for end, a draw bar 10 is provided intermediate the sides of the drag at each end of the latter, the same being rigidly fastened to the adjacent bars 6 and cross braces 7 as shown.

A blade 11 for spreading and distributing the material placed between the runners 5, in a smooth layer over the surface of the road way when the drag is drawn ahead, is mounted in an oblique position transversely of the drag frame to extend from one runner to the other. The oblique angle at which the blade is arranged is such as to permit a shearing action upon the material during the spreading operation with a lateral displacement of the material towards the center or crown of the roadway for most efficient operation, and in order to permit spreading of the material in a layer of the desired thickness, this blade is preferably mounted so as to be vertically adj ustable, whereby the lower edge ofv the blade may be located at the desired distance from the ground. As shown, the blade 11 is carried by. thevertical flan e of an angle iron mounting bar 13, the ends of which are formed with hollow internally threaded bosses 14: through which vertical adjusting screws .15 extend, the adjusting screws having threaded engagement with the bosses as clearly shown in Figure 6. The lower ends of the adjusting screws 15 are swiveled in the outer upper flanges of the runners 5 and are removably retained in place by means of split clamping nuts 16 engaging the lower ends of the adjusting screws 15 beneath the flanges of the runners 5 as also clearly appears in Figure 6. Thus, by rotating the adjusting screws 15 the scrapingor spreading blade 11 may be raised or lowered to the required level. The bosses 14 carry set screws 16 adapted to impinge the screws 15 for 'locking'them inadjusted position and maintaining the'blade l1 at the desired height, while the upper ends of the adjusting screws may beequipped with hand wheels 17 for facilitating manual turning thereof and consequently manual adjustment of the blade 11. The adjusting screws 15 are of like form so that upon removal of the split clamping nuts 16, said screws 15 ma be disengaged from the runners to permit the spreader blade 11 to be reversed end for end when it is desired to draw the drag in the opposite direction. In order to retain the ad- .justing screws 15 in place after the blade is reversed, the clamping nuts 16 are again applied, it being noted that the lower ends of the screws 15 are free to turn in the openings in the upper flanges of the runners. A suitable small longitudinally disposed guard plate 18 may be mounted at the inner end of the blade 11 for preventing surplus surfacing material from washing over the inner runner 5 during the spreading operation. As shown in Figure 5, the spreader blade 11 is transversely curved for imparting a rolling and additional mixing action to the loose material at the time of being spread. Also, the spreader blade is of a length to extend from the crown of the road to one edge thereof to span all ruts or gullies in the road and insure an even distribution of the resurfacing material.

It is noted that the blade 11 will at all times occupy asufiiciently elevated position to clear all irregularities of the road surface and do not contact with the latter at any point. In this way, the device is sub-stantially adapted to only spread surfacing material placed upon the surface of the road,

and by reason thereof the present invention is essentially different from devices commonly known as road drags for leveling dirt roadways and the like, wherein the blade engages the. surface of the road and cuts or scarifies the high points in the road surface and fills in the low places thereof.

.In order to facilitate dumping of the surfacing material in a transversely disposed pile between the runners 5 and in advance'of the blade 11, I provide an elongated hopper 19 of a length to extend transversely across the drag frame from one runner to the other so as to be capable of resting upon the latter when operatively disposed as shown in Figures 1 and 3. This hopper has a bottom discharge opening extending from end to end of the hopper and normally closed by a slide or gate 20 that is provided at one end with a handle 21 for facilitating its manual removal whereby the contents of the hopper may be dumped therefrom. The hopper 19 is provided at one end with a pair of supporting wheels 21 to facilitate movement of the hopper laterally of the'drag frame into or out of operative relation with the latter, the hopper being shifted to the inner side of the drag frame to facilitate filling thereof. When the hopper is slid across the runners 5 to and from operative posit-ion, the wear is taken by longitudinal rails 22 provided on the bottom of the hopper at opposite sides of the same. The slide rails 22 are preferably of inverted T-shape as shown in Figure 4 so as to present relatively wide bottom bearing surfaces, and it will be seen that when the hopper is drawn to one side of the drag frame it may be supported at one end by the inner runner 5 and at the other end. by the wheels 21. The inner end of the hopper 19 has a suitable handle 23 to facilitate movement of the same across the runners, and as the blade 11 is positioned midway between the ends of the drag frame, the hopper be employed at either side thereof depending upon the direction of travel of the device when in use. In other words, the hopper is used in advance of the blade to dump the material in advance of the latter with respect to the direction of movement of the drag as determined by the position of the blade 11.

In use, the hopper 19 is suitably filled with the resurfacing material while the slide or gate 20 is in place. The hopper is then slid transversely of the drag so as to rest upon and extend across the runners 5 as shown in Figures 1 and 3, at a point in advance of the blade 11. The slide 20 is then removed so that the material is dumped in a transverse pile between the runners 5. The hopper may then be removed and the drag suitably drawn over the roadway by hitching the proper draft bar 10 to a tractor or to draft animals. forward travel of the drag the blade 11 will spread the material over the surface of the roadway in a smooth layer, the additional supply of surfacing material being attended to from time to time as required. The blade Upon the mounted to permit its positioning on either side of the structure in operation and permit the frame to be drawn in either direction of its length without frame reversal and with the diagonal such as to place the advance end of the blade at the edge of the road, said side members being rigid and having a length such as to permit positioning of a material-supply instrumentality in spanning relation to and be supported by theside members in advance of the blade regardless of the direction .of frame travel longitudinally and of a length to span depressions within the roadway, where by the frame is adapted to resurface half the road width by travel in one direction and the remaining half by travel in the opposite direction without frame reversal.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

RAY ELLIS PALMER.

11 is adjusted vertically in accordance with predetermined requirements, and when the resurfacing of one side of the roadway is completed, the device may be drawn in the opposite direction by simply reversing the blade 11 from end to end and utilizing the other draw bar 10. It will be observed that the road support for the frame or skid solely consists of the side runner bars 5 and no wheels or other supports are provided. These runner bars preferably consist of railroad rails for I- beams and being of considerable length, say thirty or forty feet, they embody enormous weight which causes the same to move smoothly and evenly over the ground, being unaffected by road depressions or gullies, and accomplishing a more even distribution and spreading of the road resurfacing material which would be impossible of attainment if wheel supports were employed, as such wheels would descend into road depressions and result in a respread road surface having undulations.

Minor changes may be made without de parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim as new is In road re-surfacing apparatus, an elongated frame having its opposite ends provided with draft means and having its side members spaced a distance less than the width of the road being resurfaced, a distributing blade structure carried by and extending diagonally between the side members approximately central of the length of the frame, individual means for operatively connecting the ends of the blade structure with the respective side members with the connections such as to provide for vertical adjustment of the structure ends independently, whereby the desired camber of half the road surface can be obtained by said vertical adjustment, said distributing structure having its blade reversibly 

